A Dollar Coin That Said "PEACE"
After the war, America stamped one word on a coin: PEACE. In 1926 people carried these heavy silver dollars in their pockets. Today the silver inside is worth about 39 times its face value.
In 1926, one way to carry a dollar was a heavy silver coin: 26.73 grams, 90 percent silver. It was called the Peace dollar.
After the First World War, the United States decided to make a coin celebrating peace. The design went to Anthony de Francisci, an Italian-born American sculptor. Liberty appears on the front; on the back an eagle perches on a rock, holding an olive branch, as rays of a rising sun spread behind it. Carved on the rock is one word: PEACE.
The 1926 silver dollar
Peace dollars were first struck in 1921. In 1926 the Philadelphia Mint made 1,939,000 of them. Each holds about 24 grams of pure silver — 0.7734 troy ounce.
The Peace dollar
- First issued: 1921
- Weight: 26.73 g (90% silver, 10% copper)
- Pure silver: about 0.7734 troy ounce
- 1926 Philadelphia mintage: 1,939,000
- Value of that silver (Nov. 2, 2026, $50.26/oz): about $38.87
On November 2, 2026, silver traded at $50.26 an ounce, which makes the silver in one Peace dollar worth about $38.87. A 1926 dollar is worth about $19 in today's money, so the metal alone is now worth roughly twice that.
Sources
- Numisview: 1926 Peace dollar (Philadelphia mintage 1,939,000; 26.73 g; 90% silver; designer Anthony de Francisci)
- Fortune: silver price $50.26 per ounce (Nov. 2, 2026)
- Library of Congress: U.S. Treasury Building (about 1920)
Dollar conversions use the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U (1926 annual average 17.7; September 2026: 336.94), a factor of about 19.
